Dementia generally relates to the neurological symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by diseases and conditions that affect cognitive abilities, such as memory recall and formation, problem-solving capabilities and planning, brain processing speed and others. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 50 million people worldwide are currently affected by cognitive impairment associated with dementia, and the rate of incidence of dementia among older adults is drastically increasing. While many forms of dementia have been identified, certain population groups can be affected by more than one form concurrently. Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is a condition in which the chemistry and structure of the brain change, eventually leading to brain cell death during disease progression. Vascular cognitive impairment indicates a range of cognitive deficits from mild impairment to more severe cases, termed vascular dementia, and is generally described as a significant decline in thinking skills that is caused by conditions that block or reduce blood flow to the brain or parts of the brain, ultimately resulting in cell deprivation of life-essential oxygen and nutrients.
Vascular cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and other forms of dementia are chronic and progressive, and typically present as irreversible deterioration in cognitive function beyond what is expected of normal aging. Dementia, in all its forms, currently lacks serious disease-modifying treatments and with an aging population, 7.7 million new cases are expected every year. As dementia has physical, psychological, social and economic impact on patients as well as caregivers, families and society, there is a need for treatments that effectively reduce the incidence of dementia, such as the incidence of vascular cognitive impairment, vascular dementia, and/or Alzheimer's disease, or provide other improvements in prognosis and outcomes for patients at risk of developing dementia.